Kevin Flatt is associate professor of historyand director of research at RedeemerUniversity College, Ancaster, Ont. Find more ofthese columns at www.faithtoday.ca/HistoryLesson.

The faraway attacks on Pearl Harbor and Hong Kong by Japan on Dec. 7, 1941 – bringing Japan into the
Second World War against Canada
and the other Allied powers – had
dire consequences closer to home
for Canadians of Japanese descent.

Japanese immigrants had been
coming to Canada since the 1870s.
Most had settled on the west coast,
where they encountered missionaries from the major Protestant
churches. By the 1940s, over half of
Japanese Canadians were involved
with a Protestant church, particularly Anglican and United churches.

Despite their long history in
Canada, Japanese Canadians continued to attract a great deal of racial
prejudice from their fellow Canadians. When Japan entered the war
in 1941, these prejudices were bolstered by fears that Japanese Canadians would side with the aggressive foreign power. Despite RCMP
reports that Japanese Canadians
were loyal to Canada, the William
Lyon Mackenzie King government
used the War Measures Act to impose
draconian measures.

In 1942 Japanese Canadians living within 100 miles of the Pacific
Coast were forced to move to internment camps in B.C.’s Interior.
Their homes and businesses were
confiscated and sold by the government to pay for the camps.

In 1944, the government decidedto permanently remove this “threat”from British Columbia by givingJapanese Canadians a heart-wrench-ing choice –deportation to Japan (acountry many of them had neverseen) or relocation to government-approved destinations in otherprovinces.How did churches respond?Stephanie Bangarth, associateprofessor of history at King’s Uni-versity College, notes that whilethe churches immediately spokeout against the dangers of ethnichatred, they were at first reluctantto question the government’spolicy directly. Not only did theytrust the government would carryout relocations justly and fairly,many of them favoured relocationin principle.A church committee on resettle-ment, including representatives ofthe Anglican, United and Catholicchurches, argued that the wide dis-persal and assimilation of JapaneseCanadians would make them lessvisible and thus reduce prejudiceagainst them. The churches also haddifficulty distinguishing betweenevangelization and “Canadianiza-tion.” They hoped that cultural as-similation would strengthen theconnection between Japanese Can-adians and the churches.To be fair, the churches workedhard to ensure resettlement went assmoothly as possible. ResearcherDavid Dowe has found that theAnglican and United churches inparticular helped Japanese Can-adians resettle in other parts ofCanada. Rev. Kosaburo Shimizu ofthe United Church, worked to findemployment for Japanese Can-adians relocated to Ontario andQuebec. This kind of work by thechurches could only go so far tosoothe the heartache of exiled andseparated communities. It did noth-ing to address the violation of rightsthat forced relocation entailed.The churches did take a hardstance against the government’splan to deport Canadians ofJapanese origin. A Vancouver groupincluding Anglicans, Baptists,Catholics and United Churchpeople said it was “an act of in-defensible tyranny and folly” todeport people because of theirethnic origin. A Presbyterian min-ister in Victoria preached a radiosermon citing Acts 17: 26 to arguethat all people, regardless of race orethnicity, are part of one humanfamily. The churches workedtogether to lobby prime ministerMackenzie King and other MPs,and raise funds for a legal challenge.In the end, these and other ef-forts by Canadian citizens suc-ceeded. In 1947 the governmentcancelled the Orders in Councilthat allowed deportation. It was toolate for around 4,000 people whohad already been deported, butnever again would Japanese Can-adians have to fear deportation orother kinds of government harass-ment. In 1950 they received somecompensation for lost property,and in 1988 a full apology and fi-nancial redress from the govern-ment of Brian Mulroney.“Better late than never” is a fit-ting summary of the actions of theChristian Church through thecrisis. Although the churches’ initialresponse to the mistreatment ofJapanese Canadians was lukewarm,by the end of the war they werespeaking boldly about the humanrights of every person regardless ofethnicity – a relatively new conceptrooted in a very old and very biblicalidea that everyone is created in theimage of God. /FTThe Anglicanand Unitedchurches inparticularhelpedJapaneseCanadiansresettle inother partsof Canada.

22,000

nu Mber of jaPanese
canadians interned
in canada

HISTORY LESSONkEVIN FlaTTBetter late than neverThe churches’ response to the mistreatment of Japanese Canadiansduring the Second World War was slow towarm up – but had an impact